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Thursday, April 28, 2016

This past week was Minnesota Fashion Week, so there were
tons of fashion events going on everywhere. I was fortunate enough to go to 2 shows. I
went to the Envision show and the Black Hearts Ball Show. Both had some
fantastic designers showing their work. It’s so nice to see that the fashion
community in Minneapolis is still thriving and relevant. Everyone came out
dressed to impress, and I would like to include myself in that as well. There was definitely a variety of styles and tastes that showed up to the shows. I
know I found some great inspiration just from people watching, as well as from
the collections that I saw. I have to give a shout out to Lauren Kacher, who
showed both at the Envision show and the Black Hearts Ball, and Lucie Biros,
who showed at Black Hearts Ball. They both are alums of the CDes program, so
it’s awesome to see our alums still being active in the community. I have to
admit that I have a bias because I always love their work, and they didn’t
let me down with their recent collections. Being out with other people who
appreciate fashion as much as you do is a wonderful feeling. It’s amazing to see
people come out to support the local fashion scene and their local designers. As
a designer, I know that without the support of the community we would be
nowhere, and our art would suffer. There are still some fashion shows coming up
in the next couple of weeks, so be sure to check them out!! Support your local
designers. In fact, my fellow classmate and my good friend, Regena Yu, will be
showing in the upcoming RAW Fashion Show on April 27. I highly recommend you
get tickets to see a wonderful designer!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Earlier this semester I began work on designing a logo for
an organization called Bright Minds, Bright Smiles. It’s been several weeks
since I finalized my final version of the logo, and since then I’ve been
working on applying that logo to an overall brand. We had some guidelines for
specific items we should design, such as business cards and professional
letterheads, and we were also given more creative freedom to choose other
collateral materials to create! I decided to try my hand at designing a
website, which you can view a demo of here.

I’ve never taken on such an in-depth branding assignment
before, and it’s a task that has been much more involved than I had originally
imagined. There are so many pieces to design, and each of them has to be
carefully detailed to fit the brand I’ve established. Thankfully, my professor
has been awesome about giving us deadlines for finishing these pieces, so I’ve
been handling the workload well!

It’s hard to believe that just a couple of months ago this
brand only existed in my brain, and now I have all of these pieces to go along
with my logo. This might not even be the logo that the organization
chooses since my classmates have some really awesome designs, too! However, even if
this ends up as just a portfolio piece, I know it’ll be an excellent addition.

Friday, April 22, 2016

The weather is nice, and I'm sure we can all sense that summer is just around the corner. But first, there is a lot of stuff that still has to get done with school before moving on to summer.

In studio (IDES 3605), we are finalizing our culturally-sensitive housing designs. I've included a rough rendering of my kitchen. As you can see, things are coming along, but there is still a lot of work that has to go into making these renderings final for presentations. I'll be spending some time this week using Photoshop to perfect my renderings so they can accurately portray the design intent. I'm designing a midcentury modern home on a triangular plot of land in Minneapolis. It is a challenging site, but my design's pieced-together composition fits perfectly within it! At the end of the semester I'll post some more finalized renderings of the design so you can see the difference in how they look now versus what they end up looking like for the final presentation.

My History of Interior Furnishings class (IDES 3162) is finishing up the course's lectures, as we soon have our last test and presentations of a semester-long project. I'm also mentally preparing for 3 papers I have due in the coming weeks - time management is really going to be important. It seems like a ton of work to do, but planning things out will help a lot. And not all of the work is writing papers and studying; for my literature class (PSTL 1368), I am currently reading I Am Malala. It's an amazing book and a great way to take a break from other assignments and still be productive since I'm still doing homework! I even took my book to the park this weekend so I got to enjoy the beautiful weather while I read!

My biggest takeaway from this semester so far: it's all about perspective. I keep thinking about all the stuff I have to get done these coming weeks, but if I take a step back and think about fun ways to get the stuff done, it makes it more enjoyable and helps me relax. I will not only feel better about doing it, but it could even lead to better work! So, keep that in mind if it is time, or when it comes time, for your own finals!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Spring has arrived, the weather is nice,
and Minnesota is ALIVE! As much as I love the warm weather to be upon us, it
makes doing school work even more challenging. But, I’m just a few weeks away
from the no homework lifestyle, so I’m doing my best to buckle down right now.

My blog this week is to focus on the
importance of collaboration. Over the years, the negative group members have
fallen, and we are left with passionate people who have so many different ideas.
Collaboration in design school is critical because it allows you to learn about different ways of thinking, different design methods, and it gives you the opportunity for
peer evaluation. Even if collaboration does not occur in a group project, it
still occurs in and outside of class time.

“Studio Culture” is a term often use described what goes on behind these four
walls. Much of it focuses on how often everyone is at studio – eating, sleeping
– but also on the ability to ask a question and receive comments at any time. Your
peers become your professors, and sometimes you become someone else’s
professor. The learning never ends in the design field, and it is amazing how
much we can learn from our peers through collaboration.

Here are the wonderful people I've been collaborating with this semester :) Check out our studio blog here!

Thursday, April 14, 2016

These past couple of weeks, I’ve been continuing to work on
my Target project. This phase in the project is heavily dependent on the
designers of each group. This is the phase where the designers are creating the
illustrations, the flats, and creating the test garment for the project. That’s
a lot of work to do, but luckily I have a wonderful partner to help me, and we
both have varying strengths that work well with each other. Last summer she did
an internship with Target doing Technical design, so giving her the task of
completing the flats was the better choice. I have strong illustration skills
in both manual and digital techniques, so the natural choice was for me to do
the illustrations. We both are very strong in construction, so we will both be
working on the test garment.

I love that we both have strengths that compliment each
other, making us a wonderful working pair. It’s interesting to look at my
fellow designers and me to see how much we have grown in our skills and
knowledge. I think about the major developments in my skills since I started
the program, and I can tell just from looking at previous projects that I have
improved immensely. My illustration skills, my construction, and my design
process have all improved. Seeing these developments really helps motivate me
to continue to work hard. Moments of reflection like this help me see the
bigger picture, especially during hard times of stress and defeat. Taking time
to reflect on yourself, no matter what major you are in or where you are in
your life, really helps put things into perspective. That’s my quick little tip
for anyone having a tough time in school or in life, to just pause for a few
moments, breath, and reflect on the good things. I guarantee that it will
give you boost of rejuvenation and motivation.